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Latin America and the Spanish. Maya. 1800 BCE-900 CE Yucatan Peninsula Several city-states Disappeared by arrival of Europeans Invasion? Internal revolt? Overuse of land?. Aztec. Settled in Valley of Mexico (Tenochtitlan) around 12 th century CE
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Maya • 1800 BCE-900 CE • Yucatan Peninsula • Several city-states • Disappeared by arrival of Europeans • Invasion? Internal revolt? Overuse of land?
Aztec • Settled in Valley of Mexico (Tenochtitlan) around 12th century CE • Dominated much of Central America through Triple Alliance • Prophecy foretelling of a returning god coming to the Aztec people
Inca • Mid 1400s in modern day Peru • Great builders – system of roads that extended along the Pacific coast
Uh oh… • An alien creature that closely resembles a human approaches you on your way home from school. They are driving what appears to be a massive spaceship. They attempt to communicate with you but it just sounds like jibberish. They also are dressed strangely. WHAT DO YOU DO?
Aliens/Conquistadors • Spanish and Portuguese conquerors • Groups of Spanish soldiers armed with European weapons
Conquering of Aztec Empire • Hernan Cortes and his Spanish soldiers arrived in 1519 • “Befriends” opponents of Aztec rule • Arrives at Tenochtitlan and is welcomed by Aztecs
Aztec’s Cont’d • Conquistadors take ruler Moctezuma hostage, pillage city • Aztec fight back but contract European diseases • Cortes returns with fresh troops from his new “friends”
Conquering of Incan Empire • Francisco Pizarro and his Spanish soldier arrive in 1530 • 180 men • European weapons • Pizarro captures capital with help from native allies, executes emperor NOTICE A THEME?!?
Bernal Diaz, 1520 “We could not walk without treading on the bodies and heads of dead Indians. I have read about the destruction of Jerusalem, but I do not think mortality was greater here in Mexico…The stench was so bad that no one could endure…Even Cortes was ill from the odors which assaulted his nostrils.”
Population Decline • Island of Hispaniola • 1493: 100,000 natives • 1570: 300 • Central Mexico • 1519: 11 million • End of 16th century: 2.5 million
Encomienda • Queen Isabella established encomienda labor system • Conquered natives worked for the conquerors • Spaniards protected and paid natives in return • Greatly abused by Spanish mines and plantations
Bartolome de lasCasas • Wrote A Short History of the Destruction of the Indies in 1542 “What we committed in the Indies stands out among the most unpardonable offenses ever committed against God and mankind and this trade [in American Indian slaves] as one of the most unjust, evil, and cruel among them.” • The first Spanish ship carrying Africa slaves directly from Africa arrives in the New World in 1518